Psychiatric Disorders, Suicide Attempts Up in Children With T1DM

(HealthDay News) — Children with type 1 diabetes have an increased risk of psychiatric disorders, especially in the six months after diagnosis, according to a study published online February 3 in Diabetes Care.

Agnieszka Butwicka, MD, PhD, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues examined the risk of psychiatric disorders among individuals born in Sweden between 1973–2009. Data were collected from 17,122 children with type 1 diabetes and their 18,847 healthy siblings. They were followed until they turned 18.

The researchers found that within six months after the onset of diabetes, the risk of psychiatric morbidity was increased three-fold in children with type 1 diabetes vs. the general population; within the total observation period, the risk was doubled. There was an increased risk in suicide attempts (hazard ratio, 1.7) and in most categories of psychiatric disorders. In probands, there was a decrease in the risk of psychiatric disorders from a hazard ratio of 2.7 in the cohort born in 1973 to 1986 to a hazard ratio of 1.9 for those born from 1997–2009. Among siblings of patients with type 1 diabetes, the risk for any psychiatric disorder had an estimated hazard ratio of 1.1 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.0–1.1), with no increased risk seen in any specific category of disorders.

"The results support recommendations on comprehensive mental health surveillance in children with type 1 diabetes, especially in recently diagnosed children," the authors write.